How would you describe your toilet? For pensioners Leonard & Margaret Reed, their WC is “beautiful”.
It is no ordinary toilet. It is a Closomat Palma Vita wash and dry toilet, needed to give Margaret dignity now she suffers from fibromyalgia and dementia. It has been such a successful addition to the family home, in Gateshead, that Leonard- her full time carer as well as her husband- uses it too.
Funded by a Disabled Facilities Grant from the local social services, the Closomat toilet was installed in the bathroom as part of a home adaptation that also converted the bathroom into a wetroom.
“Margaret is still my ‘babby’ and I will always look after her,” says 75 years-old Leonard of his wife of 40 years. “She wouldn’t like a carer, someone she didn’t know, doing something as personal as helping her go to the toilet. I know the Closomat cost money but it’s worth every penny to us.
“The Closomat is a great help, I don’t have to wipe her now. It’s beautiful: I use it too, I’m very clean that way! This is the 21st century- there’s no excuse today not to be clean.”
